A technology is available that can effectively eliminate any
need for using natural gas to heat water, homes or industry. It
is a machine that can solve many of the energy problems which
became so glaringly apparent last winter.

The device is a steam generating machine invented by the late
Karl Schaeffer of Chicago. Schaeffer's method of making
super-heated steam is instantaneous and will economically
eliminate all need for huge boilers and direct use of fossil
fuels.

Among the ore than 500 applications for steam, the Schaeffer
device can effectively heat a modern home with 20% less
electricity than is now required.

This machine makes super-heated steam from running cold water
instantly and without burning up a great deal of energy.

Sounds impossible, doesn't it?

Credibility has been one of the key problems faced by Sonaqua
Inc, the small firm that is attempting to develop and license
the late inventor's lifetime dream.

Engineers instinctively draw a blank when confronted with the
claims of the Sonaqua group. Schaeffer accomplished something
different; something that was not found in the textbooks.

Karl Schaeffer was 67 years old when this reporter first
interviewed him and photographed his demonstration in 1973. The
story was not told sooner because Sonaqua Inc wanted the product
fully developed before publicizing what they had.

The device is still not fully developed, but the story needs
telling and our nation needs this new form of energy.

Karl Schaeffer found a way to harness some tremendous natural
force which is inherent in molecules of water. There is no other
way to state his principle.

"It all started for me when I was a graduating student of the
trade-technical school in Berlin. The year was 1924", Schaeffer
said in his thick German accent.

"I was in the washroom and when I turned off the water I heard
the pipes knock", he said, referring to what engineers call
"water hammer", a phenomenon in pipes that technology tries to
eliminate.

"It was a loud knock and my mind suddenly said -- there is
energy in that water hammer! And from that moment on, I was
hooked."

"Of course I wondered if there was a way to harness such an
energy, and I began my life-long quest -- well, it took me 50
years, but I have harnessed that energy and it can power the
world.

"My machine can actually run forever so long as water continues
to flow into it. Unlimited power! Free energy! Think of it!"

Karl Schaeffer was excused by his aides for "exaggeration".
"Exaggeration my foot", Schaeffer bellowed. "I know what I have
seen!"

The inventor had an unexplained engineering phenomenon occur
four separate times during the years he was trying to perfect
his device. He turned off the electric power to the motor, but
the machine kept running until the water in the tank was gone.

Enough power sprang from within his mechanism to continue
pouring forth steam from cold water and turn all the mechanical
apparatus as well -- with the power off!

Those unexplained incidents led Schaeffer to make claims
considered "wild" by other. But even if he was deluded, which
does not appear to be the case, his machine is by far the most
efficient means of making steam ever devised by man.

Karl Schaeffer did it the hard way -- but after coming to
America from his native Germany and devoting all his time and a
considerable family fortune to his "mechanical obsession", he
finally harnessed that simple shock wave in water phenomenon.

"It appears that this device actually makes use of two
principles engineers try to eliminate -- water hammer and
cavitation", noted Dr. Tom Hunter, former professor of
Mechanical Engineering at Illinois Institute of Technology when
he watched a demonstration of the Schaeffer machine

"The force in the water is always there -- I have learned to
use it, to intensify and use it", Schaeffer said emphatically.

One expert in engineering, chemistry and physics while watching
the Schaeffer machine spin and spew forth steam said:

"I believe he is releasing energy that is inherent in molecules
of water and this puts us on the verge of a totally new concept
of energy utilization."

Essentially it is apparent that the vibrational and shock-wave
nature of water can be used as a source of additional energy.

The Schaeffer machine is run by an electric motor that spins a
metal disc. Cold water runs into the spinning flywheel where
specially designed chambers cause an extremely rapid series of
shocks to occur -- literally shocking the water into superheated
steam.

Schaeffer demonstrated this energy conversion device in his
machine shop on Belmont Avenue in Chicago for this reporter a
number of times. The device was crude and inefficient next to
some later models made by Bob Price of Sonaqua, but it was
impressive nonetheless.

"You just watch what happens", the old man said proudly as he
stepped up to his floor-mounted machinery. "You know how long it
takes to boil water on your stove, don't you?"

I nodded that I understood a little about boilers, heaters and
making steam.

"Feel this", he ordered and I put my hand on some pipes leading
into the device from a water tank. It was cold -- tap water
cold.

A 20-horsepower electric motor was mounted beneath the heavy
metal rotary impeller. A pipe protruded from the opposite side
of the disc and bent up and out a window.

Schaeffer pulled a switch and I witnessed an amazing energy
conversion -- something totally new to the annals of
engineering. The motor whirred and Schaeffer tinkered with a
valve for about 20 seconds, then before half a minute had
elapsed superheated steam spewed forth and cascaded out the
window.

The outlet pipe was too hot to touch in a very short time, yet
the inlet pipe continued to be as cold as the water running
inside it.

Indeed, a 20-horsepower electric motor is an energy source, but
later tests and more sophisticated equipment showed that the
power out -- in the form of steam -- was greater than the power
in from the electric outlet source -- an engineering
impossibility, but a fact nonetheless!

In September of 1973, Sonaqua Inc took the Schaeffer device to
the famed Battelle research institute in Columbus Ohio for
efficiency tests.

The test results, submitted to George W. Moffitt Jr., board
chairman of Sonaqua Inc on October 4, 1973 by L. J. Flanigan of
the Nuclear and Flow Section of the Battelle, listed the
efficiency of the device over eight test runs to be in a range
between 97.3% and 99.0%.

An interesting aside to the formal report is that much of the
experimentation was said to have been "not definitive because
shortcomings in the experimental apparatus introduced large
uncertainties into the results".

However, it was reported by Battelle personnel, that part of
that same unexplained phenomenon reported by the inventor must
have developed. An engineer told Bob Price, "We had readings in
excess of 100% on several occasions, and that's not possible."

"I was told that one of the readings actually indicated an
efficiency of 117%", Price said, trying to subdue a grin at the
thought of the confusion such a development must have caused the
engineers.

The Sonaqua people, especially Price, are careful to avoid any
claims for the unexplained energy at this time. "We have the
greatest efficiency and potentially the lowest cost apparatus
for making steam there is", Price said.

Sonaqua did manage to sell a licensee the right to produce home
heaters, only to find that after two years the licensee is
having the same developmental problems faced by the parent
company -- the new departure is up against dogmatic slide-rule
skepticism and development money is hard to find.

Aquasonics of Denver has proven that a three-bedroom home with
a basement can be comfortably heated with two small 3-horsepower
motors.

"They have managed to heat a home with 20% less electricity
than that used by a standard immersion unit, and they have had
no trouble keeping the house warm -- excessively warm", Price
said.

For two winters now a model house in the chilly mountain city
has had more than adequate heat from the two small motors and
the Schaeffer device.

Sonaqua is applying for grants to study exactly what it is that
makes the shocked water heat up. Schaeffer's sons, Kurt and
Karl, have worked with Bob Price and have designed some
experiments to help discover precisely what takes place within
their father's mechanical device.

Whether grants for such studies are forthcoming or not, it
seems silly to have the use of the device withheld. There's no
doubt that it works. Time enough to figure out why after it's in
production and helping to curb America's excessive energy use.

Edison's light bulbs were giving light when electric theory was
in its infancy. It's not necessary to know precisely what is
going on in Schaeffer's machine -- the machine works
consistently and that's what is needed.

Dr. Hunter, who viewed the device in action in this reporter's
presence, said that it obviously performed in a wide range of
efficiencies and eventually when the device was properly
developed and finely tuned, the prospects were excellent for the
product.

The professor of mechanical engineering did not care to comment
on the "unexplained" part of the story.

Look at it this way. If the machine merely produces steam with
a 98% efficiency (which Battell grants unequivocally), then it's
the best thing for home use yet developed.

And there's no need for large hot water storage tanks as
smaller storage units, heated more efficiently will suffice: no
more need for pilot lights and natural gas.

In large apartment units there's no need for expensive boiler
systems and either gas or coal fuel.

And if, when the skepticism is worn down and serious thought is
given the device, the "unexplained phenomenon of the release of
energy inherent in the molecules of water" is eventually proved
and controlled, the world will have an alternative energy source
that is sorely needed.

US Patent # 3,791,349

Steam Generator

Karl Schaeffer

February 12, 1974
US Cl. 122/11, 122/26
Intl. Cl. F22b 3/06

Abstract -- An apparatus and method for the production
of steam and pressure by the internal creation of shock waves in
a distended boy of water. The created shock waves are in the
nature of water hammer and it is this water hammer which is
repeated and intensified to such an extent the heat and pressure
developed in the water converts the water into usable steam.

Background of the Invention

(1) Field of the Invention

Steam generators have been in use for many years. Such
generators have primarily employed burnable fuels to raise the
temperature of a body of water until the water changes into
steam. The uses of steam generators have been many. Many
building heating systems employ steam as the heating medium.
Many chemical processes employ steam to produce certain chemical
reactions. Come of these use the steam as a source of heat or to
contribute to the reaction while others use the steam as a
catalyst to promote the desired reactions. Many physical
problems are aided by the use of live steam. For example,
certain types of mining operations employ steam employ steam to
expedite the removal of minerals from the ground. Also, in the
drilling for petroleum and gas it is often desired to use live
steam to cause the start of the upward discharge of these
liquids and gases once pockets of them have been reached by
drilling.

It is concluded that steam generators in the past have been
useful and will continue to be useful in the future --
especially if a more economical steam generator is available.
The steam generator of this present invetion is such an
economical device.

(2) Description of the Prior Art

The use of water hammer for the generation of steam has just
not been previously done to the best of our knowledge. However,
physicists and engineers have long known of the existence of
water hammer. Various books and texts have discussed water
hammer and its attendant characteristics. Attention is directed
to:

A patent search has been made on the device as disclosed herein
and this search has confirmed our belief that no one heretofore
has conceived of such a device.

US Patent # 3,141,296 to Jacobs, Jr, et al., describes the
utilization of shock waves produced in a liquid by an electric
discharge to perform useful work. The shock waves are created by
discharging electricity in a liquid-filled chamber and the
useful work is defined as a pump for the liquid.

US Patent # 3,398,686 to Guin describes a motor which utilizes
the power of shock waves created in a liquid by the discharge of
electricity across a spark gap. Thus both Jacobs, Jr and Guin
are very similar to each other and it is obvious that neither
one produces shock waves in a body of liquid to produce an
appreciable rise in temperature of that liquid. Also, neither
one has created shock waves in a body of liquid by a mechanical
means corresponding to water hammer to cause the temperature of
that water to rise sufficiently to convert the water to steam.

Other steam generators having water chambers appearing similar
to applicant's water chambers are Loefler, US Patent #
2,316,522, Gray, US Patent # 3,508,402, Reynolds, US Patent #
3,690,302. However, no one of these patented devices uses shock
waves to cause the heating of the water -- rather, each one
employs a combustible gas to effect a heating of the water for
its conversion to steam. And, on close analysis each chamber is
entirely different from applicant's chamber and lacking in the
shock wave-generating mechanisms as subsequently defined in this
specification/

Summary of the Invention

A principal object of the present invention is to provide a
novel steam generator.

An important object of this invention is to provide a novel
device to produce and intensify a series of water hammers within
a distended body of water to thereupon substantially raise the
temperature and pressure of such water.

Still another important object of this invention is to provide
a device as set forth in the preceding object in which the water
hammer is caused by alternating forces -- first a centrifugal
action and second a vacuum action -- causing the body of water
to be first pulled in one direction and then to snap back in an
opposite direction.

Another and still further important object of this invention is
to provide a device of the preceding two object in which the
distended body of water includes at least one closed bottom
passageway in which the movement of water therein is suddenly
extinguished and in which the snapping back and forth action of
the water column occurs to thereby intentionally impart a water
hammer to the body of water so that a portion thereof is
continuously converted to live steam.

Other and further important object and advantages will become
apparent from the disclosures in the following specifications
and accompanying drawings.

Drawings

Figure 1 is an elevational view of a preferred embodiment of
the steam generator of this invention with portions thereof in
cross section.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken from the line 2-2 of Figure
1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Figure 1.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on line 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is an elevational view of a modified embodiment of the
invention and with portions thereof in cross section.

Figure 6 is a sectional view taken on the line 6-6 of Figure 5.

Figure 7 is a sectional view taken on the line 7-7 of Figure 5.

Figure 8 is a sectional view taken on the line 8-8 of Figure 5.

Explanation of the Drawings

The reference numeral 10 indicates generally the preferred
embodiment of the steam generator of this invention. A
stationary housing 11 encloses the steam generator 10, the
housing comprises a main body portion 11a, an upper cap 11b
fastened to the central body portion 11c, an under cap 11d
fastened to the body portion 11a by a circularly arranged series
of cap screws 11e, a downwardly projecting central tubular
portion 11f forming a part of the under cap 11d, and a bottom
cover 11e fastened by a series of circularly arranged cap screws
11h to the central tubular portion 11f.

A vertically disposed motor driven shaft 12 having an annular
shoulder 13 therearound is journally carried within the central
tubular portion 11f of the housing 11 by means of a roller
bearing 14. The inner race of the bearing 14 is disposed between
the annular shoulder 13 of the rotating shaft 12 at its top and
the stationary cover 11g at its bottom. An annular seal 15 is
held within the housing 12 to effect a sealing of the chamber
above the seal from communication with the device below the
seal.

A rotor designated generally by the numeral 16 is carried on
and with the upper end of the motor driven shaft 12. The outer
surface of the rotor 16 is cone shaped and is adapted to rotate
within the outer housing 11. The housing and the rotor carried
therewithin together define a generally distended chamber for
the body of water which has its temperature and pressure
materially raised by subjecting it to shock waves. A water inlet
17 is provided in the housing cap 11d and is the means for
delivering water to the distended chamber within the housing 11
and in and around the rotor 16. The chamber is defined as
distended because it is not just an open one-part chamber but
rather is broken up into many small passageways which project in
many directions. Webster's defines "distend" as "to stretch out
or extend in more than one direction". The water body chamber
includes a horizontally disposed ring-shaped passage 18 located
between the housing under cap 11d and rotor 16. The rotor is
vertically spaced above the housing on its underside to define
the ring-shaped passage 18. The water inlet 17 directly
communicates with the ring-shaped passageway 18 as best shown in
Figure 1. An upwardly and outwardly flaring annular cone-shaped
passageway 19 is located between the housing body portion 11a
and the rotor 16. Again, there is a spacing between these
elements to define the cone-shaped passageway 19. A plurality of
radially inwardly extending arcuately spaced apart passageways
20 are adapted to pass through a portion of the rotor 16. At
their outer ends these passages 20 join the cone-shaped
passageway 19. An inwardly inclined conical shaped passageway 20
runs directly into the conical shaped passageway 21. This
joining of the many passageways is shown in Figure 2. A radially
inwardly extending ring-shaped passageway 22 is provided near
the bottom of the rotor and joins the lower end of the conical
shaped inner passageway 21. The inner end of the ring-shaped
passageway 22 enters a vertically disposed central chamber of
core 23 within the rotor 16.

The rotor 16 includes an outer cup-shaped portion 24 and a
combination upper and top portion 15. This combination upper and
top portion is fastened around its outer circumference by a
plurality of arcuately spaced cap screws 26 to the outer body
portion 24. The rotor 16 comprising comprising the two main
parts is nevertheless a unitary device rotating as one mass. The
two-piece construction permits the easy making of passageways 21
and 22 and before assembly permits the drilling of the plural
passageways 20 near the top of the outer cup-shaped portion 24
of the rotor. Over the top of the rotating rotor there is
defined a ring-shaped passageway 27 beneath the upper cap member
11b. A vertically disposed cylindrical ring-shaped passageway 27
has its top joining the top passageway 27 at the upper outside
of the rotor 16. The outer periphery of a radially inwardly
extending annular passageway 29 joins the lower end of the
passageway 28 and at its inner periphery joins the upper end of
the cone-shaped passageway 19.

A specially constructed fitting 30 has an externally threaded
portion at its lower end at 31 which is threadedly engaged with
internal threads within a central opening portion of the upper
cap 116 of the housing 11. This fitting 30 forms the base for a
superstructure 32 disposed over the basic unit contained within
the housing 11. Of course, the superstructure then comes an
extension of the stationary housing 11. An outer pipe 33 has its
lower end threadingly engaging the upper end of the special
fitting 30 at 34. A special cap fitting 35 threadingly engages
the upper end of the outer pipe 33 as shown at 36. An inner
concentric pipe 37 and a radially inwardly projecting annular
flange 38 of the cap fitting 35 are joined to one another by a
threaded engagement as shown at 39. The juncture 39 is located
at an intermediate position between the top and bottom of the
vertically disposed inner concentric pipe 37.

An adjustable value 40 is provided on the top of the inner pipe
37 to control the discharge of steam as the steam is generated
in the device of this invention. The valve 40 is threadingly
engaged at 41 to the pipe 37.

The lower end 42 of the inner pipe 37 has its outer surface
milled or turned down so the pipe wall is relatively thin and
thus may be assembled with the other concentric members by
passing downwardly through the internal threads on the annular
flange 38. An intermediate concentric pipe 43 has its upper end
disposed between the cap fitting 35 and the inner pipe 37. The
upper end of the intermediate pipe 43 stops short of contact
with the underside of the flange 38, leaving a space 44
thereover.

An annular flange 45 is provided intermediate the top and
bottom of the special fitting 30. External threads are provided
on the intermediate pipe 43 near its bottom and these threads
cooperatively engage with internal threads on the inner aperture
of the special fitting flange 45 as shown at 46. The pipe 43
includes a lower extension 47 which has its surface milled or
turned down to permit it to pass by the threads 46 on the flange
45 during assembly. This is similar to the turning down of the
lower extension of the inner pipe 37.

The intermediate inwardly extending annular flange 45 of the
fitting 30 is provided with a plurality of arcuately spaced
apart vertically disposed holes 48. These holes constitute
restricted passageways of the water in the steam generator of
this invention from the lower chamber 49 defined by the fitting
30 to an upper portion or chamber 50 as defined above the
annular flange 45 and between the intermediate pipe 43 and the
outer pipe 33. The upper limits of the chamber 50 are defined by
the inner and underside of the special cap fitting 35.

A thin annular chamber 51 is disposed between the cap 35 and
the intermediate pipe 43. A second thin elongated chamber 52 is
concentric with the chamber 51 and is located between the
intermediate pipe 43 and the lower end 42 of the inner
concentric pipe 37. By reason of the space 44 over the top of
the intermediate pipe 43 the thin annular chambers 51 and 52 are
joined one to the other. The elongated annular passageway 52 is
provided with an annular opening 53 located at the bottom of the
lower extension 42 of the inner concentric pipe 37. A central
passageway 54 is provided within the inner pipe 37 and is
utilized to carry generated steam to the controlling valve 40 at
the top thereof.

Operation of the Device of Figure 1

To commence operation, water under normal line pressures is
admitted to the inlet pipe or fitting 17 so that water flows in
the direction of the arrow 55 to the distended or tortuous path
chamber which comprises a single body of water. The arrow 56
shows movement of water form the inlet 17 through the annular
passageway 18 and to the cone-shaped passageway 19 where the
water proceeds upwardly in the direction of the arrow 57. From
there the water enters the several radial holes 20 and moves in
the direction of the arrow 58 to the inner cones-shaped
passageway 21 where the water moves downwardly in the direction
of the arrow 59. The passageway 21 is joined at its bottom to
the annular ring-shaped passageway 22 and as shown by the arrow
60 water moves radially inwardly to the central passage 23
within the rotor 16. The water then proceeds upwardly as
upwardly as indicated by the arrow 61. Here the water enters the
special fitting lower chamber 49 and as indicated by the arrow
63 moves upwardly therethrough into the restricted apertures 48
and continues upwardly through such vertically disposed
apertures as indicated by the arrows 64. The upper end of the
chamber 50 joins the thin annular ring shaped chamber 51 and as
indicated the water moves further upwardly in the direction of
the arrows 65 to the space 44 just beneath the annular flange 38
of the special cap 35. Now the water changes its direction of
flow and starts moving down and through the thin annular
ring-shaped chamber 52 in the direction of the arrows 66. In
addition to the water moving vertically into the chamber 62 a
portion thereof moves radially outward through the passageway 27
in the direction of the arrows 67. At the outer end of the
ring-shaped passageway the water moves down the vertical
ring-shaped annular passageway 28 in the direction of the arrow
68. Now the water travels radially inwardly through the
ring-shaped horizontally disposed annular passageway 29 in the
direction of the arrow 69 and hence back to the outer conical
shaped passageway 19 between the rotor 16 and the main body
portion 11a of the housing 11.

Water now fills the entire distended chamber which as explained
contains numerous passageways forming a tortuous path and
providing a cycle for the movement of water therethrough. Prior
to the complete filling of the system with water, rotation of
the shaft is commenced. The shaft 12 is rotated by coupling a
motor thereto and the rotor 16 with its several unitary parts
24, 25, and 26 is rotated at a relatively high speed causing the
water to be thrown centrifugally outwardly within the chamber
through any passageway thereof having a radial disposition or a
radial component. The large horizontally disposed ring-shaped
annular passageway 27 is one such radial passageway. This
immediately results in the water being drawn downwardly out of
the closed bottom passageway comprising the chamber and
passageways 49, 50, 51 and 52. The water suddenly and positively
pulled downwardly from this closed bottom channel creates a
vacuum in the bottom of this channel which in the device of
Figure 1 is at the top of the stationary superstructure at the
space 44. This newly created vacuum now sets up a pull of its
own which exceed and overcomes the centrifugal forces and the
body of water comes back into the bottom of the closed bottom
channel with a snapping action. This sudden striking of the
closed bottom extinguishes movement of the column of water and
there is a substantial shock imparted to and within the body of
water. This water hammer or shock brings with it a rise in
pressure and temperature of the body of liquid. In Horace King's
book "Handbook of Hydraulics" published by McGraw-Hill (4th Ed.,
pp. 6-21) there is a discussion of water hammer and its
creation. The King handbook states that if a passageway in a
pipe line is suddenly closed (corresponding to the closed bottom
channel in the applicant's device), "a dynamic pressure, I
addition to the normal static pressure, is created within the
pipe. This dynamic pressure is commonly called water hammer. It
is caused by the sudden transformation of kinetic energy to
pressure energy".

J. N. Bradley's Shockwaves in Chemistry & Physics
discusses "The Measurement of Thermodynamic Quantities" in
Chapter V, p. 172 of that book and states:

"A shock wave in a liquid medium is characterized by a small
rise in temperature and an extremely large change in pressure."

Applicant is thus intentionally creating shock waves in this
distended body of water causing both temperature and pressure
rises. Although the temperature rise created by each shock is
small, the shocks are repeated over and over again, one upon the
another, and thereby intensified causing a material rise in
temperature of the entire body of water. Each shock caused by
the sudden extinguishment of flow of water at the dead-ended
channels creates a force of approximately 63.4 pounds per square
inch of every foot of extinguished velocity. Although this
degree of pressure is only held momentarily, the succeeding
shock waves are cumulative and although the pressure dissipates
throughout the body of water the temperature rises materially
and is not so easily dissipated as the pressure. The rise in
temperature and the maintenance of that temperature rise is so
spectacular that steam is almost instantly created and starts up
the pipe 37 through its center passage 54 in the direction of
the arrows 70. Unconverted steam in the form of water in various
stages of heat is pulled downwardly in the direction of the
arrows 71 whereupon the cycle is repeated with the rapidly
increasing shock waves causing the water to be more easily
converted into steam and that steam being discharged upwardly in
the direction of the arrows 70 and thence through the adjustable
valve 40. Of course, water is always being admitted to the inlet
17 to keep the system full and constantly replenish that portion
of the water that has been converted to steam and has been
discharged through the valve 40 for some external use.

The modified or alternative construction of Figure 5 is similar
to the preferred device of Figure 1, but is shown primarily to
emphasize that various body chambers may be employed. As
explained for the device of Figure 1 the water chamber is
distended in nature -- not any particular shape -- but expressly
including one or more closed bottom channels within which a
vacuum may be drawn and at least one or more radial passages or
passages with radial components to produce a centrifugal action.
The steam generator of Figure 5 is generally designated by the
numeral 80. The generator is provided with a stationary housing
81. The housing comprises a main body portion 81a, an upper cap
81b fastened to the central body portion 81a by a circularly
arranged series of arcuately spaced apart cap screws 81c, an
under cap 81d fastened to the body portion 81a by a circularly
arranged series of arcuately spaced apart cap screws 81e, a
downwardly projecting central tubular portion 81f forming a part
of the under cap 81d, and a bottom cover 81g fastened by a
series of circularly arranged arcuately spaced apart cap screws
81h to the central tubular portion 81f.

A vertically disposed motor driven shaft 82 having an annular
shoulder 83 therearound is journally carried within the central
tubular portion 81f of the housing 81 by means of a roller
bearing 84. The inner race of the bearing 84is disposed in a
vertical position between the annular shoulder 83 of the
rotating shaft 82 at its top and the stationary cover 81g at its
bottom. An annular seal 85 is held within the housing 82 and
brushes against the rotating shaft 82 to effect a sealing of the
chamber above the seal from communication with the device below
the seal.

A rotor, conical in shape, is designated generally by the
numeral 86. The rotor is carried on and with the upper end of
the motor driven shaft 82. The rotor 86 is adapted to rotate
within the outer housing 81. The housing and the rotor carried
therewithin together define a generally distended chamber for
the body of water which has its temperature and pressure
materially raised by subjecting it to shock waves. A water inlet
87 is provided in the housing cap 81d and is the means for
delivering water which has its temperature and pressure
materially raised by subjecting it to shock waves. A water inlet
87 is provided in the housing cap 81d and is the means for
delivering water to the distended chamber within the housing 81
and in and around the rotor 86. The chamber is defined as
distended for the same reasons as applied to the chamber of the
device in Figure 1. The water body chamber also includes a
horizontally disposed ring-shaped annular passage 88. The rotor
is vertically spaced above the housing on its underside to
define the ring-shaped annular passage 88. The water inlet 87
directly communicates with the ring-shaped passageway 88 as best
shown in Figure 5. An upwardly and outwardly flaring annular
cone shaped passageway 89 is located in the space between the
housing body portion 81a and the rotor 86. A plurality of
radially inwardly extending arcuately spaced apart passageways
90 are adapted to pass through a portion of the rotor 86.At
their outer ends these hole-like passages 90 join the
cone-shaped passageway 89. An upwardly inclined conical shaped
passageway 91 is concentrically disposed radially inwardly of
the conical shaped passageway 89.The inner ends of each of the
plurality of horizontal passageways 90 run directly into the
conical passageway 91. This joining of the many passageways is
shown in Figure 5 and further in the sectional view of Figure 6.
The inner cone shaped passageway 91 forms one of the closed
bottom passageways of this distended chamber of the device of
Figure 5.

The rotor 86 includes an outer cup-shaped member 92, an
intermediate member 93 generally nesting within the cup portion
92 and a circular or disc-shaped cap member 94. A plurality of
arcuately spaced apart cap screws 95 define an outer ring around
the cap 94 and constitute the means of joining the cap 94 to the
outer portion 92 of the rotor 86. A plurality of similar
arcuately spaced apart cap screws 96 define an inner ring around
the cap 94 to the intermediate portion 93 of the rotor 86.these
three body members with their cap screws 95 and 96 together
constitute a unitary rotor which rotates within the stationary
housing 81 and thereby crates the shock waves for effecting the
rise in the temperature of the distended body of water to
generate steam.

The rotor 86 includes an annular ring shaped passage 97
disposed between the intermediate portion 93 and the cap 94. The
top of the outer annular portion of the intermediate portion 93
is milled or turned down to provide the space for the annular
passageway 97. The rotor also includes a plurality of arcuately
spaced apart vertically disposed closed bottom channels 98. The
arrangement of these holes or channels 98 is in a circular path
which is generally arranged concentric to the center of the
composite rotor. The inner annular surface 99 of the top of the
intermediate portion of the rotor has not been milled down and
thus having its full height abuts the underside of the cap 94.
Thus when the cap screws 96 are drawn up tightly the unmilled
central ring portion 99 of the member 93 acts as a spacer for
the remainder of the top of that member from the underside of
the cap 94. This clearly defines the radial passageway 97 which
joins the inner cone shaped passageway 91 with the open topped
closed bottom holes 98. The rotor is further provided with a
central vertically disposed passageway 100 about its vertical
centerline. At the juncture of the bottom center of the
intermediate member 93 of the rotor with the bottom of the
cup-shaped outer member 92 of the rotor the central passageway
100 is enlarged as shown at 101. A plurality of relatively small
diameter radially disposed holes or passageways 102 join each of
said closed bottom channels 98 with the enlarged chamber 101 at
the center of the rotor. These radial passageways 102 are
disposed at a position spaced above the closed bottoms of the
holes 98. It is generally through these minute relief holes 102
that generated steam is permitted access to the center of the
rotor where it moves upwardly through the passage 100 and thence
into an enlarged steam passageway 103 located above the channel
100. Steam may be permitted free escape from this passageway 103
or may be selectively discharged by a suitable adjustable valve
means such as that shown at 40 in Figure 1.

Operation of the Device of Figure 5

As for the steam generator of Figure 1 water is admitted to the
system of Figure 5 by passing through the inlet 87 in the
direction of the arrows 104. The water then moves in the annular
ring-shaped passageway 88 in the direction of the arrows 105 to
the juncture with the cone-shaped passageway 89. the water now
moves upwardly in the direction of the arrows 106 to the
juncture of the full annular passageway 89 with the plural
radial passages 90. Water then moves inwardly in the direction
of the arrows 107. As previously stated, an inner concentric
cone-shaped passageway 91 joins these several radial holes 90
and thus the incoming water fills that passageway as shown by
the arrows 108. As the ring-shaped bottom of the passage 91 is
effectively closed the water then moves radially inwardly across
the top of the outer portion of the intermediate member 93 of
the rotor in the passageway 97 as shown by the arrows 110 to
thus fill the entire distended chamber formed by this maze of
multi-directional passageways. Most of the arrows just described
for the movement of water in the various chambers and
passageways are two headed indicating that water during the
operation of the device moves in both directions.

Prior to the system being completely filled with water,
rotational drive is imparted to the shaft 82 and thereupon its
integral rotor 89 is also rotated. Rotation is at relatively
high speeds. The initial response to the body of water is its
centrifugal action through all radial passageways and
passageways having radial components. In this device the primary
centrifugal action is created in the elongated radially
outwardly extending annular ring shaped horizontally disposed
passageway 97. The imposition of this force in the body of water
causes the columns of water in the multiple closed ended
channels 98 within the rotor to be drawn upwardly out of their
closed bottoms.

Almost immediately there is a multiplicity of vacuums created
in each closed bottom with the result that the vacuum overcome
and exceed the opposite force of centrifugal action to thereby
cause the columns of water to snap back into the closed bottoms
of these channels. As previously explained for the operation of
the device of Figure 1 the extinguishment of the motion of the
body of water by the closed bottoms of the channels imposes
shock waves in the distended body of water so that there is an
incremental increase in both the temperature and pressure of the
body of water. The repeated and continuous rotation of the rotor
causes multiple shock waves or water hammer and actually an
intensification of the shocks when they are occasioned one upon
the other. Thus what would have been only a small rise in
temperature is now substantial. The pressures similarly rise but
they quickly dissipate in the system. The water commences its
conversion to steam generally in the area of the closed bottoms
of the channels 98 where the greatest effect of the snap action
shocks takes place. This newly created steam is permitted to
escape radially inwardly through the restricted holes 102 in the
direction of the arrows 111. Once in the central chambers of the
rotor the steam moves vertically upward through the successive
passages 101, 100 and 13 as indicated by the arrows 112.

Both the devices of Figures 1 and 2 act to generate steam.
Their common attributes are their stationary housings with
rotors therein which together define distended chambers with
tortuous passageways and at least one closed bottom passageway
and a passageway permitting centrifugal action to create forces
in the body of water opposite to the vacuum created forces in
the body of water opposite to the vacuum created forces in the
closed bottom channels. In Figure 1 the closed bottom channel is
located in the stationary housing portion of the device whereas
in Figure 5 the closed bottom channels are located in the moving
rotor. It is thus apparent that the steam generator of this
invention may take many and varied forms without departing from
the principles disclosed herein. Thus it is not my intention to
limit the patent granted herein otherwise than as necessitated
by the appended claims.

Comments & Notes

Infinite Energy (July-August 1995, p. 30)

"Other Cavitation Reports: The Schaeffer
Steam Generator"

by

Michael Huffman

…I have two reports done by two university professors on two
different versions of the Aqua machine.

As some of you may know, Carl Schaeffer patented his device in
1973. He reportedly spent about $5 million developing and
marketing the device. He faced a great deal of resistance from
the academic community, and was never able to commercially
manufacture the device. He ended up selling the patent for the
device in 1988 to the Aqua Corporation in Chicago for $1,
shortly before he died. Bob Price was an engineer who had worked
with Schaeffer on the device for 12 years. He has his own
machine shop and was able to design, build and test his own
prototypes.

He went to the Aqua Corporation and together they spent an
additional $500,000 developing and attempting to market the
device. Again, they faces a great deal of skepticism, and were
unable to successfully market the device. Their main problem
was, however, that they were asking $50 million for a technology
that would become public domain in a couple of years. Grant
Stouffle was the CEO of ill-fated Aqua, Inc., and in my opinion,
not a very realistic businessman. Even though they got some
serious multi-million dollar offers from some large
capitalization, international corporations, Grant believed that
the technology was worth more than that, and managed to convince
the stockholders that they should hold out for more money.

When Bob Price's wife died, he left Aqua Inc to live with his
family in another state. Sheldon Hughes joined the Aqua
Corporation as an engineer in 1990, and helped develop the
device further. He didn't have a machine shop, and the Aqua
Corporation ended up spending between 10 and 50 thousand dollars
per unit to have them made. Sheldon was working on a deal with
the Swenson Corporation, a manufacturer of multi-effect
evaporators, to make and test prototypes. That was where AI
first saw the machine that I reported on in the March/April
edition of Infinite Energy. The Aqua Corp ended up running out
of money shortly after that, and no more prototypes were ever
built. The Aqua Corp then formally folded.

The first report that I have from the Aqua Corp was titled,
"Preliminary Report on Aqua Inc Rotary Impeller Water Heater".
It was written by Linda McDonald, chairman of the Dept. of
Physics, North Park College, IL (May 5, 1989). The report s very
much like Scott Little's report on the Yusmar. The report is 9
pages long. There is an introduction which defines the variables
and formulae, a description of the physical characteristics of
the apparatus, a description of the testing procedure and
instrumentation, a page of data collected from the 10 test runs
performed in three temperature ranges, a conclusion section, and
an appendix.

The machine that was tested was one of Bob Price's variations
of the Schaeffer device. The test procedure used was also very
similar to Scott's. It was a basic barrel calorimetry type test
in which the incoming water temperature was measured against the
elevated outgoing water temperature, the volume of water, the
power consumption, and the time were measured. In the error
analysis section, the accuracy of the measurements was
calculated to be +/- 11%. No mention at all was made of the
efficiency of the motor or any motor-related heat losses. The
table of data reported explicitly that the efficiency of the
device was between 1.09 and 1.30, depending on the output
temperature of the run. The operating temperatures ranged from
97° F to157° F. The lower temperatures gave the higher
efficiencies.

The other university test report is titled "Aqua Motor Tests"
by the Institute for Aviation Research, Wichita State
University, KS, and was written by Glen W. Zumwalt, PhD,
Professor of Aerospace Engineering, dated March 8, 1990. The
tests were performed on several of Sheldon's designs. The report
is 8 pages long. Much of the same format is used for the report,
with the addition of two diagrams of the test bed configuration.
The data collected and the formulae sued were described in even
greater detail than the McDonald report. In this report, a
paragraph is devoted to the observation of "blue steam" [Exactly
what James Griggs sees with his machine. - Ed., Inf. En]. The
testers speculated that the coloration may have been due to the
boiling of the grease in the shaft seal. Samples were collected
and analyzed with a gas chromatograph, but only pure water was
found. They concluded that the coloration remained a mystery.

The issue of efficiency was treated in a very interesting
manner, however. In this report, at the end of the data tables
for each test run, there is the statement, "If the electric
motor efficiency is XX.X%, shaft power supplied equals the heat
produced". The efficiency numbers used varied with the different
rotor designs, but some of the numbers exceeded the
manufacturer's nameplate efficiency rating, which led to the
recommendation by Prof. Zumwalt that a dynamometer be used in
future tests to verify the data collected in the barrel
calorimetry tests.

The test performed on the "Griggs gadget" by the Emprise Corp
report an efficiency of 120% for hot water runs, and 140% for
steam runs. This report was written by R.A. Dubose, President of
the Emprise Corp on February 16, 1994. Again, this report relied
on the motor manufacturer's nameplate efficiency rating in its'
calculations, and recommended that a dynamometer be installed in
the test bed to verify the data collected and reported.

The test procedure was the barrel calorimetry type of test that
Jed Rothwell and Gene Mallove described in their reports.
Sheldon also wrote a couple of reports to the Aqua Corp
shareholders on the tests performed at the Swenson Corp testing
facility. One report is 4 pages long, and the other is 3 pages.
Sheldon measured the amount of steam collected, and found that
it was far greater than his device than with an electric boiler.
These reports include graphs that plot the horsepower used
against the steam value output. Depending on the amount of
horsepower used, the amount of steam collected was 250% to 500%
more than an equivalent powered resistance coil boiler system.
The minutes of the Aqua Corp stockholder meetings show that they
voted to have Sheldon patent his design, but Sheldon said that
they never gave him the money to do it. As a result, he never
patented any of the designs that he came up with while working
with the Aqua Corp.

As you can see from all these reports done by some fairly well
qualified individuals, mostly in laboratory settings, these
devices demonstrate overunity efficiency.

I just got a packet of information from my dad containing more
information about the devices developed by Aqua Inc and Sonaqua
Inc. The first report was made by Raymond E. Ross, and I believe
he was a principal of Sonaqua Inc of Colorado. The report is not
dated, but the note at the bottom from my father suggests that
Aquasonics had purchased a license form Sonaqua Inc (the
original Schaeffer corporation) to develop and market the
Schaeffer device. The note further explains that Aquasonics
failed to live up to the contract, went bankrupt, and lost its
license. The Colorado based company was marketing the device as
a home heating system, and was calling it the "Delta Tee".

Evidently, Raymond Ross installed one of these devices in his
home, and took measurements of the performance. There is no
description of the device, the testing protocols, or
instrumentation used to make his claims. The report was simply a
statement, according to my father's note, and a set of
preliminary data that was recorded before sending the device to
the Battelle Institute in Columbus OH for testing in their lab.

It was not a formal report. I would call it more of a
testimonial that a scientific report, but it does have some very
interesting things to say. The report made by the Battelle
Institute was not included in the packet. It was supposedly a
formal report of over-unity performance that was the result of
testing done at the Battelle Institute. According to Bob Price
Aquasonics supposedly paid $40,000 to Battelle Institute to
perform these tests. The following is the complete report from
Aquasonics, Inc.:

The Aquasonics Delta-Tee ~

In m opinion, the conventional way of estimating BTU output
(GPM x delta-T) cannot be used for our unit. I think we have
proved this at the Ross residence in Broomfield. By the
conventional way of estimating BTU output, we are heating a 1440
sq. ft. house with a full basement, or a total of 2880 sq. ft.
to 75° F. with the outside temperature of 0° F with less than
20,000 BTU/hour.

A separate test was made with immersion-type electric heaters.
All engineers agree that this way of heating water is as close
to 100% efficiency as you can get. Two 4.5 kilowatt immersion
units were used in the same tank and through the same
piping (two 4.5 kw immersion units = 30,708 BTUH). This
100% efficient water heater could not heat the house above 66° F
when the outside temperature was 15° F. A fire had to be built
in the fireplace to keep the house warm. The Aquasonics Delta
Tee unit did a better job for 10% less cost. I think a good way
to test the BTU output would be to build a 20' x 20'
refrigerated cooler (like a meat cooler) and inside of this
build a small house. This way we could have a controlled
environment and measure the air temperature inside the house. In
the past year we have tried almost every type of thermometer
that is on the market and we can't believe the readings we get,
nor could we get anyone else to believe them. With some of the
readings we got, the unit showed as high as 700% efficiency.
Several of the best engineers in the country tried to prove us
wrong and couldn't. May time the water temperature at the unit
would read 150° F, run through 100 ft of 3/5" baseboard radiator
and return to the unit at 152° F, a gain of 2 ° F after running
through 100 ft of radiator and giving off heat. This is
impossible. It is also impossible to heat 2,880 sq ft of floor
space with two 3-hp motors that equal 13,200 BTUH, but the
Aquasonics Delta-Tee does the job and does it well.

Report made by Raymond E. Ross [Signature]

The second page of the report is a piece of paper with the hand
written results of 10 test runs. The average efficiency was 96%,
not taking into account the benefit of the inefficiency of
motors. There was no mention of the formulae sued to come up
with these numbers.

In a previous post I hinted at another possibility of what may
be happening in the Griggs device when I mentioned
"non-linearities in the steam table" as one of several things
that should be looked at. Since I did not get any bites on that,
let me outline a discussion I had with a scientist from Oak
Ridge National Labs about the Griggs device several months ago.
This discussion is off the record, and most likely will not be
collaborated, just as some of the results of their CF cell
experiments are.

I had an occasion to meet with this person and begun describing
the Griggs device to him. After telling him how it worked I
ended it with, "and it is reported to produce more steam or hot
water than then the input power should produce". His
response was "that's not surprising". I was almost floored.

He then told me that is a fairly well known fact among some
researchers that the published steam tables are wrong. The
original team which made up the steam tables found that toward
the extremes (high pressure high temperature and low pressure
and temperature) there are unexplained non-linearities. Since
these non-linearities could not be explained, and were shown to
not obey the conservation of energy, they fudged the tables to
get rid of the non-linearities. They had assumed that there must
be an error in their measurements or equipment since it did not
jive with theory. Since then others have found the same thing,
but none of them will stick their neck out to declare that steam
tables which have been in use for decades are wrong, especially
since there seems to be no theory to explain these
non-linearities. Anyway, he said that if you go through a cycle
of vaporization at one pressure and condensation at a higher
pressure and temperature, when you get back to the original
temperature and pressure the "corrected" steam table does not
close. That is to say, according to the measurements there is
steam left over which should not be there, and by conservation
of energy cannot be there. Anyway, he said that it seems that
such a device such as Griggs would enhance this non-linearity
effect and therefore produce more energy than is supplied. He
does not have the foggiest idea where the excess energy could
come from, but simply that given what he knows about the
non-linearities in the (corrected) steam tables, that seems like
a good place to start looking. I find the idea intriguing, but
as with so many other theories, it leaves one with as many
questions as it gives answers.